INTRODUCTION Understanding the levels and associated factors of non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is crucial in designing interventions to improve adherence and health outcomes of ART. We assessed non-adherence to ART among HIV-infected persons reporting ART use in a nationally representative survey in Kenya. METHODS The Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey 2012 was a population-based, hou...

South Africa is home to the world’s largest population of people living with HIV/AIDs (5.7 million) and Sub-Saharan Africa is heavily affected with 22.4 million people living with the disease. Access to highly active antiretroviral (ARV) drugs is limited and many patients even when they are on ARVs consult traditional healers for herbal remedies. These traditional remedies as well as natural he...

Purpose of the study Since the use of more tolerable and less toxic combined antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, most drug-naïve HIV patients achieve viral suppression and immunologic recovery, combined with less AIDS related events. Nevertheless, drug switches are still frequent both as a mean of adherence and toxicity management and as a response to virologic or immunologic failure. The aim of the ...

With variable degrees, drug-resistant HIV-1 is present in approximately 10%–20% of new infections in Western countries and in 60% of patients failing antiretroviral therapy. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor mutations are the most common transmitted resistance mutations (4.5%-10%); NRTI (4.0%-4.5%) and PI mutations are less common (2.8%-3.4%)". Integrase mutations are uncommon but ...

INTRODUCTION Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment available in low-middle income countries differs as suggested in international HIV-treatment guidelines. Thus, we compared ARV regimens introduced as a first-line therapy, time of initiation, frequency of making combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) switches, frequency of viral and immunological monitoring and treatment outcome in south east Europ...

Background: Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs have become the cornerstone of HIV (Human Immunodefi ciency Virus) care and treatment. Its use has led to a marked reduction in AIDS (Acquired Immune Defi ciency Syndrome) related morbidity and mortality. However, more than fi ve years after their introduction few HIV infected people in Nepal are receiving ARVs. Objective: The main aim of this study is to ...

The aim of this prospective study (20 months) was to assess HIV patients' use of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM) and its effect on ARV adherence at three public hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Seven hundred and thirty-five (29.8% male and 70.2% female) patients who consecutively attended three HIV clinics completed assessments prior to ARV initiation, 519 af...

The burgeoning HIV/AIDS epidemic means that more labor and financial resources are being dedicated to the procurement of antiretroviral (ARV) medicines for treatment. While patients, physicians, national governments and development partners are eager to see treatment programs expanded, rapid scaleup often results in circumstances whereby resources have to be spent quickly, and sometimes resourc...

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to contribute to the global burden of disease despite great advances in antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and prophylaxis. In this review, we discuss the proposed mechanisms of MTCT, evidence for cell-free and cell-associated transmission in different routes of MTCT, and the impact of ARVs on virus levels and trans...

Using longitudinal survey data collected over a period of two years, this paper examines the impact of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment on the time allocated to various household tasks by treated HIV-positive patients and their household members. We study outcomes such as time devoted to housework, firewood and water collection, as well as care-giving and care-seeking. As treatment improves the h...